This is a long (1500-page) book written in 1747. I just started reading it (I'm really enjoying it) and thought it might be fun to have someone to chat with about it. Anyone up for it? E-mail me at cymgj@yahoo.com.

I first read CLARISSA in a college lit class, a thousand years ago, and loved it for its melodrama, its perversity, and its absolutely wonderful and complex depiction of Mr. Lovelace (think Satan in PARADISE LOST, written with a lot less talent and a lot more schmaltz). In the years since college I admit to having read CLARISSA a second time, and while I can't see doing it again, I encourage you to make your way through the whole thing

Thanks for your encouragement. I could not find anyone to discuss it with but I am 300-odd pages in now and I'm absolutely loving it. Lovelace is still on the periphery so I don't have much of an opinion about him yet -- my favorite character so far is Anna Howe.

If anyone is thinking of reading this all I can do is urge you on. The writing is fantastic. I just love the dialogue, recounted, of course, after the fact in letter form. It's a very emotionally stirring book. I find myself having physical reactions to it....I get angry! I'm taking my time reading each letter and it is stirring up so many thoughts. I am full of fire, scribbling away at my thoughts about this book. Anyone struggling for a Master's thesis topic will find all they need and more in "Clarissa." It's fascinating. To think that I have an English degree and had never even heard of it?!...